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Penn State Smeal MBA team wins global operations case competition

December 11, 2013

Penn State Smeal MBA team wins global operations case competition

A team of five Penn State Smeal MBA students recently won first place -- and a $5,000 prize -- in the 2013 Global Operations Conference Case Competition, held last month at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

The competition, sponsored by Alcoa, began with the submission of a presentation and an executive summary. From those initial submissions, five teams were selected to travel to the final competition.

Chosen as one of the final teams, the Penn State Smeal MBA students traveled to Michigan in mid-November, where they presented to a panel of judges.

“Our students had to advance past some fierce competition just to reach the final round,” said David Huff, clinical associate professor of supply chain management and the team’s unofficial adviser. “There, they were given a second part to the case and had to prepare a live presentation of their proposed solution.”

Penn State Smeal MBA team members included class of 2014 students Iqbal Aasim, David Benton, Andrew Driscoll, and Ankit Mahajan, and class of 2015 student Tatiana Kuzmenko.

The case competition took place on the first day of the Global Operations Conference. The conference, which students were able to attend as finalists in the case competition, focused on the new risks, expectations and opportunities in the operations field.

Aasim and Mahajan, along with fellow second-year students Michael Bassani and Kumar Pushkal, also recently competed in the fourth annual Michigan State University Donald J. Bowersox Graduate Supply Chain Challenge, where they placed third. This invitation-only competition included the top supply chain programs in the country.

About the Penn State Smeal MBA ProgramThe internationally ranked residential Penn State Smeal MBA Program positions students from around the world for their future careers. The two-year program, based on the University Park campus, begins with a focus on business fundamentals. Through summer internships with top companies and concentration opportunities in areas such as finance, marketing, and supply chain management, students then personalize their Smeal MBA experiences to align with their career aspirations. Learn more at www.smeal.psu.edu/mba.